Serves: 2
Approx cost: €0.50
Approx calories: ~80
Approx preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes
For those of you who didn’t know, my wife and I enjoy having little growing experiments on our balcony. We don’t always succeed, but that’s not what’s important – it’s damn fun to nurture something from either seed or a tiny little seedling to a large, leafy plant. So our cucumber plants didn’t really turn out as planned – everything seemed to be going great, but then the plants suddenly died, succumbing to some sort of nasty leaf-mould fungus-type thing. Still, we have two sturdy looking courgettes right now, two bell peppers which are coming along great and the aubergine plants might start bearing fruit any day now. But this post isn’t about any of that – it’s about our little crop of beetroots. We’re going on vacation in a week and decided it was time to start trimming down the “crops” so to speak – added to the fact that I don’t really think the beetroot was going to be getting much bigger. It was already stuffed into a fairly small pot as it was, though we got some great results from it, given that we really didn’t expect it to survive. Upon pulling them all up we had quite the little harvest of both the beetroots themselves, and also delicious, edible, leafy greens.
Ok – they won’t be winning any awards at county fairs any time soon but it’s “home-grown produce” and for a town-dweller with only a balcony that’s pretty satisfying. The beetroots themselves were put to good use – stay tuned for those in a later post – but meanwhile we wanted something to serve with our lunch today, so this is a post about what to do with a whole pile of beetroot greens – if you can get them. I’m guessing they’re not the most common thing if you don’t grow them yourselves – it’s not like you see many stores selling them (although they really should!). In any case – if you can get your hands on them – don’t waste them, because this dish was actually really tasty! Have a good sunday everyone 🙂
Ingredients
– 1 large handful of Beetroot Greens
– ~3 cloves of Garlic
– 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
– 1 tbsp Olive Oil
– Salt
– Pepper
– Lemon to serve with
Instructions
- Start by washing the greens well. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and place the greens into the water and blanch for two minutes. After this time, drain and run under cold water until completely cool.
- Slice the greens into pieces of about 4 cms – 5 cms in length and transfer to a sieve or collander to allow any excess liquid to drain away while you move to the next stage.
- Mince or finely chop the garlic and heat the Olive Oil in a large frying pan. When the oil is very hot, add the garlic and chilli flakes to the oil and move about the pan a little to allow the flavours to infuse with the oil. Transfer the sliced greens into the hot oil and fry very quickly, stirring all the time, for about one minute, until the the greens are hot.
- Remove from the heat, add some salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with some lemon wedges, squeezing lemon juice over the greens before eating, and enjoy as an awesome, healthy, cheap side-dish!
Congratulations, Charles! I am impressed with what you manage to grow on your balcony. You have motivated me to grow more plants next year (I have only herbs and chili peppers).
Stir fried beetroot greens look original and delicious. I have only had them either in salads (leaves) or in a soup (stalks), but always loved them.
Thanks Sissi – it's too bad they're not commonly sold (if at all?!). Considering the food industry's habit of using literally every last scrap of edible (and sometimes not so edible) food from animals and vegetables, I'm surprised these don't find their way onto the market more – although perhaps they're put towards other uses… animal feeds or something similar.
I just love colorful foods. It looks so fresh and festive.
Cheers Greg – if you get the chance you should definitely give it a try. With the garlic and especially the lemon juice it had a perfect flavour!
So how much to beetroot greens taste like beets? Congrats on nuturing these little babies! I have absolutely no green thumb…so anyone that grows anything – especially on a balcony really impresses me. 🙂
Surprisingly they don't really taste like beets at all – it's more like … well, what's the best way to describe it … a bit like a fibrous green, something like kale perhaps. The taste is actually really yummy, especially with the chilli flakes and garlic – definitely worth a try if you're able!
Charles, I love the way you make use of food from tip to toe – like the carrot top recipe the other day – this is whole foods eating at its best!
Thanks Kelly – coming next: fish head soup! Nah, hehe, I do like to maximise the usage though. I read that apparently in some parts of the US the rind of watermelon is pickled. That sounds pretty exciting – maybe I should give that a try sometime!
This would be great for Christmas! And I love the fact that the color stays quite the same even after they're cooked. I don't believe I've seen these in the stores … unfortunately for us, even the beetroot we get are imported. Btw, I've been reading some of the comments and just FYI, the locals here use watermelon rind (whites only) to make soup (sweet soupy dessert with dried longan or a savory soup with pork ribs). I can't say I've tasted any but I would assume it would be similar to the winter melon. And I love fish head soup! 😀
Watermelon rind soup?! Wow, sounds really interesting. Got any good recipe links perhaps? I'd definitely like to give a try at pickling so I'll try that sometime. I *love* longans – we can only get them tinned here, and even then you need to pay a special visit to an Asian supermarket in Paris 🙁 As for fish head soup… lol! I once made an unwise bet with my ex-girlfriend (Japanese girl) that she wouldn't eat a fish-eye from the head in a soup. She had no problem plucking that out and chewing it up… erk :'(
Here's a list of watermelon rind recipes that I would like to try one day … and if you do before me, let me know if they're worth making 😀 Knock yourself out! Oh, I'd do the same with the fish too … yum! The bigger the eyeball the better! Am I grossing you out yet?
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s305…
http://www.chinesefoodhealth.com/recipe/recipe-wa…
http://ilovethaicooking.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/…
http://yearofpie.blogspot.com/2008/06/anns-may-pi…
(This one sounded pretty strange to me, yet intriguing)
Ah god, fish eye-balls! :'( So nasty!!
Thanks a lot for the recipe links – they sound really fun. Looking forward to trying them when I come back from my vacation soon!
That's too cool you have a crop of beetroots. This looks healthy and delicious! I've never tried them before though, what do they taste like? Also, I've been dying to grow some herbs/plants on our balcony, but need some that don't require much sunlight, since ours is shaded most of the day.
Thanks Caroline – they don't taste very beetrooty to be honest. More like a leafy green, like kale I guess. If you're going to grow herbs I'd really recommend mint, rosemary and thyme. They can take a beating in terms of sun and shade and are pretty hardy too!
Hi Charles, just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your site. I just did sautéed baby beets with their greens and will be posting it soon. It's a favorite and basically like yours. What a wonderful crop you are growing on your balcony.
Thanks for visiting Karen. I was really pleased with how they turned out on the balcony – something to try again next year for sure, especially since they produce so much food, above *and* below ground! Hope you're having a good day 🙂
I've never tried Beetroot Greens before, but you know there is no time like the present 🙂
Thanks BG – I hope you're able to give them a try, they're one of these things which make you wonder why you never had them before because the taste is so good!
Your dish looks yummy … the colour of the beetroot 'greens' remind me of red swiss chard stalks/stems especially when cooked. I have made them several times but usually add them to a bechamel and bake as a gratin with bread crumbs and cheese sprinkled on top. This dish is probably a lighter dish (especially calorie wise) though anything stir fried with onions and garlic is going to be delicious. 🙂
I'm wondering what the blanching in salted water does. Is it part of the cleaning process?
Depending on the age of the leaves, some of them, or the stalks especially, can be a little tough and fibrous. A quick cook will ensure that you take the edge off any toughness. I guess it depends how you want the final texture to be – if you want it like a stir-fried kale or something similar then tossing in hot oil is sufficient, but this way everything is a little more soft, a little like stir-fried spinach.
I should have a look at swiss chard – I've never used it (or even seen it before, maybe!) actually so it would be good to try! Thanks a lot 🙂
"stir fried with onions and garlic"
Sorry, I meant with chili and garlic. 🙂
yum!!! good work with the balcony garden – your beets look awesome! this year is the first time I've had my own garden, and it is so rewarding.
I'm so jealous of *anyone* who has a garden… it's something I want so desperately. Really want to grow chard and potatoes and wintery greens and so forth…. /sigh
Do you have a big place? I've seen some quite small gardens but people have done incredible things with them so even with a small place you can really accomplish a lot!
I have a BUNCH of beets growing in the garden now…looks like they're getting some prunin' tomorrow!
PS: I totally want to do all of your under 1-euro recipes as a challenge…
Thanks! I want to bulk out this section of my site actually… the €1 section. Maybe try and do entire 3 course meals for less than €5. Would be fun!
Let me know how it goes with the beets, I hope you like them 🙂